Public, developer weigh in on proposed Harbor Bay development

A site plan for the proposed new Harbor Bay Club. Contributed graphic.

“It’s always great when Tim brings a new project to fill the chambers,” City Planner Andrew Thomas said Monday of C. Timothy Hoppen, president of Harbor Bay Isle Associates. But when all was said and done, only a dozen people got up to speak on the developer’s plan to build 80 luxury homes where the Harbor Bay Club now sits and to build a new, 40,000 square foot club on North Loop Road, in the Harbor Bay Business Park.

The discussion at Monday night’s Planning Board hearing was to focus on which anticipated impacts of the development proposal should be studied as part of an environmental impact report. But attendees and even the developer’s representatives took the opportunity to air their views about the project – and, in the developer’s case, to offer a quick sketch of what the club and the layout of the proposed new neighborhood might look like.

Harbor Bay Isle Associates’ Kathy Moehring said the idea to place homes at 200 Packet Landing Road – where the club now sits – dates back to 2002, and the concept of moving the club to North Loop first surfaced in 1998. Meanwhile, residents raised questions about whether policymakers who allowed the developer to build a private club in lieu of promised open space intended to permit the club to move from its current location – and also, whether the number of members using the club exceeds the amount the city had allowed.

Planning Board members and staff seemed open to getting answers to those questions.